Lowrance Fuel flow Meter

[purple5ive]

Guys,
How many here know anything about the lowrance fuel flow meter.

http://ww2.lowrance.com/en-au/Products/ ... en-au.aspx

I have a 2 stroke motor and would like to have some sort of fuel usage statistics to help me with fuel use and determine how far I can push my small boat distance wise. (snapper season is coming and theres only so far you can go with a 25l tank)
After a short look on the net this seems to be the only way to do it properly
I looked at distance travelled on the sounder, but that doesn’t exclude drifting so its useless.

Any help from people in the know is much appreciated..
I already have the nmea2k backbone and the lowrance elite ti9 to make it work, just wondering what if anything will this sensor do for me
Looking for fuel usage, and how much fuel left over in the tank etc..
Many thanks

[Sinsemilla]

From what i can see it will give you the ability to judge how many K's you will get by how you're driving the boat. It will tell you how much fuel you've used but you could easily do this by looking into your fuel tank. I'd say this would be more useful to someone who can't see into their fuel tank.

Why don't you get a bigger fuel tank or carry another 25L fuel tank so you can switch over?

[Mattblack]

I could see a use for it if you were clocking up big hours trawling etc, but for the price of that sensor, you could buy 3 x 25L tanks.

[Yota]

I’ve got the setup you’re describing, it provides all the fuel data you are after in your OP.
I’ve mainly got that setup because I can only see the top inlet section of the 150 litre tank.
I’ve got the nmea setup on my Simrad, I’m pretty sure the Lowrance and Simrad use the same interface system but I’m not familiar with the Elite Ti so just check it’s all compatible with that. Once you have the nmea set up and connect the fuel flow meter you might have to configure it in setup but then it provides new screens for fuel options. And if your motor is nmea compatible it also provides more screens for the engine as well.

[purple5ive]

yota, engine is not nmea2k compatible, i believe you need an ECU as a minimum for that, so carby 2 strokes are out..the e;ite ti9 has nmea2k connection and i already have a backbone setup so should be plug and play.

matt and sin - the area where my fuel tank sits is almost like its made for the tank, i cannot fit anything bigger in there unless it was taller, taking jerry can is the only other option which im trying to avoid since its an extra bit of space take up on an already small open center console..

and yes i can see my fuel tank gauge, but its always got the needle swaying so hard to gauge

i figured if i have some sort of readout i can adjust my driving accordingly rather than take chances..

i was hoping to rely on the numbers on the screen (and also still have my visual on the gauge) and adjust speed and trim to suit best economy when i need to conserve fuel.. currently its just wring its neck or sit at 4k and adjust trim to get highest speed to save fuel.
im sure theres more i can do hence why im asking.

[Sinsemilla]

I'd look into getting a custom tank made for the space you have rather than mucking around trying to get the most out of your 25l.

Less time spent worrying about fuel and how many K's you can do is more time fishing. Plus more fuel is always better than just enough or not enough..

Have you ever got close to running out of the 25l in a days fishing?

[purple5ive]

yeah ive been close.. carrum -mordialloc- blackrock-frankston-carrum thats was almost empty by the time i was at carrum ramp.. thats one of a few
im not going custom tank, its wayy too much $$$, ill just take extra fuel, which i have done before..
this was moreso just an extra option i thought id add to the boat, will most certainly give me an idea of how to drive economically..that way i can use that option when im doing long trips, and no ***** given on short trip...

[Yota]

Yep it’s all plug and play for sure.
You still need to setup what size engine and average fuel burn, size of tank, etc to get the most out of the setup.
It’s all a calculated output depending on the inputs ie fuel flow and average fuel burn and calculated distance travelled and calculated fuel remaining.
So if you imagine a 150 litre tank, and all those calculations are 95% accurate then you might be out +\- 7litres, no big deal.
But in 25 litre tank you might be out by +\- 1.25 litres. That’s not much at all.
I was taught the rule of thumb was 1/3rds for fuel.
1/3 out
1/3 back
1/3 reserve in case of unforeseen bad luck.
I’m just saying the fuel feedback is great I use it every time I head out but ultimately it sounds like you need more fuel on board and not have to go by the numbers so much.
Anyway the image shows the fuel data on the left side. So you see the boats using 55L per hour at 67klm per hour.
It shows fuel remaining etc.
Also note the 2 tabs down the left side of the screen 1 for engine 1 for fuel data.

[Yota]

If you like I can post a higher res image. I just noticed it’s too pixelated to see the description above each figure.
But the 135 is the fuel remaining.

[Yota]

Here. :thumbsup: